Hey @taperchase - thanks for the quick response! Let us know if/how the psilocybin works for your problems.

Despite lack of official diagnosis* to the contrary - I can't claim to be neurotypical, so I guess my experience may not be something easy to generalize.

On the flip side, most of these SSRIs and SNRIs are actually not that well understood from a human biochemistry perspective. Calling something an "antidepressant" is usually (IMO) not accurate. These drugs definitely affect biochemistry/mood/depression/anxiety - but from what I've read, it's not a simple, universal effect.

I'm coming at this from the perspective of someone trained and employed as a scientist for a long time - but not in medicine. I can read the studies and probably get a good idea of the results, but without the broader medical education, my understanding of the implications is going to be quite limited.

Back to your point of of "an antidepressant that has depressive side effects" - I wasn't initially being treated for depression - I had severe anxiety (Acute symptom was chest pains which turned out to be a panic attack sent me to the ER one night). For me, the SSRIs and SNRIs I have tried have generally had a mild positive effect on the anxiety, but an increased dose throws me toward depression. At this point I can pretty readily tell the difference between "I'm so anxious I am tied up in knots and can't do much of anything" and the lethargic inability to do things that I associate with depression.

*In the 1970s when I was a kid, if you could manage to cope reasonably well - you didn't get a diagnosis. There's still a significant resistance to diagnosing adults with various forms of non-neurotypical status (ADHD, Autism Spectrum, etc.)